Yates came through the Murray United Bright Red SAP program and currently plays in the NPL outfit's under-12 boys team.

The St Monica's Primary School student is also involved in Football Victoria's TIDC program at Wangaratta on Friday nights and Melbourne Victory's pre-academy program.

Yates played futsal for Victoria Country at the national championships in Sydney in January and received the best player in final award at the Melbourne Victory Cup tournament in Melbourne earlier this year.

Her main positions are right back, right wing and centre back.

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Yates had to work hard to earn this position, attending three trials at Darebin in May, which started with more than 200 players, before being cut to 14 and four emergencies.

She is one of seven players in the squad from regional Victoria.

The national championships are held at Canberra from August 25-30 and are considered a stepping stone toward state teams selected for the FFA national championships for under-14 and under-15 girls.

Wangaratta's Poppy O'Keeffe is an emergency in the squad - an excellent effort considering she is under 11 years of age in an under-12s side.

O'Keeffe is also in her second year with Murray United's under-12 boys team and came through the club's SAP program.